


She's Handsome

by themaskedgirl



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Crossdressing, M/M, Multi, Romantic Comedy, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-29
Updated: 2018-05-13
Packaged: 2019-04-29 14:58:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14475174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themaskedgirl/pseuds/themaskedgirl
Summary: Lu Han, a waiter in a cafe, joins the famous band EXO to replace his twin sister, who is currently in America. As the band needs a girl member to expand their fan base to the male population, Lu Han is forced to pretend as his sister. During his time with the band, he starts crushing on the grumpy leader, Wu Yifan or Kris, but feels his heart being taken away by the silent maknae, Sehun.A You're Beautiful AU.





	1. It Started with a Cup of Bubble Tea

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I started this in 2014, but I went on hiatus the year after. I've decided to pick it up again. I hope you enjoy it!

Lu Han wipes the sweat off his brow and heaves the heavy, drink-filled tray up. "For table six, right?" he says.

Yixing, a kind-looking man and Lu Han's best friend, nods and adds, "Yep. That group of giggling girls ordered you. I pity them." He mockingly shakes his head with a sad smile as he washes the utensils he used.

"They'd be disappointed if they knew," he says secretively and winks. He takes the tray to the girls with slow, calculated steps. His boss, Minseok, is usually forgiving, but he doubts that his boss will let him off if he spills some drinks again. He sets down the drinks with a flourish. "Apple, cherry, and strawberry bubble teas for three blooming ladies. Enjoy your drink and thank you for your patronage." He sends them a brilliant smile, not fake, but not particularly real either. It's a practiced smile for the customers. It lures them to come back to the quaint cafe.

He bows respectfully and turns to leave when one of the girls unabashedly stops him by grabbing his free hand. "Oppa," she says with a sweet smile. "I've been here a couple of times and I've heard you sing. You're also so pretty. You should go join a band."

He wants to take his hand away, but he doesn't want to seem rude. Besides, there are no other customers yet. He may as well humor these girls.

She faces her friends with wide and excited eyes. "Omo, Exo's recruiting another member, right?" Her posse squeals in delight and she squeezes his hand. She turns to him and says, "Oppa, I think you should join Exo."

"But don't they need a girl member?" one of the girls asks.

The leader frowns. "I'm really not comfortable with a girl member joining Exo. It's just... Wrong." She turns to Lu Han and eyes him from head to toe. She snaps her fingers and looks at her friends. "I have a brilliant idea!"

The two girls lean in. "Oppa is pretty enough anyway. He actually looks like a girl, see?" They look at him to inspect him and then they nod. "He can pretend to be a girl and our oppa-deul will be safe from the clutches of a girl!"

_I think they should be careful of me... Whoever they are._  "I think that's a fantastic idea," he tells them with the same smile, albeit more forced. "But I'm not really interested in that area. Thank you, though." He gently pulls his hand away from the pouting girl's face. He flashes them a fake, award-winning smile and sees them brighten up at the sight of it.

Is he that handsome?

He walks back to the counter, careful not to trip on his own two feet. He dramatically plants his cheek on the counter and sighs. "I'm so handsome that girls and boys alike can't resist me."

Yixing rolls his eyes and continues dusting the already dust-free utensils. "You're so narcissistic that I'm trying not to puke on you."

He snaps up from his position and stares at his best friend. His best friend is an angel who is incapable of saying mean things. "Who are you and what have you done to Zhang Yixing?"

"Just get back to work, hyung."

"But there are no customers."

Before Yixing can say anything, Minseok comes bounding up to them. Despite being the manager and the owner of the cafe, the small man with puffy cheeks prefers buzzing around the cafe. He removes his apron and hands Yixing his cheat sheet. "Yixing, take charge for a while. I have to meet someone." He ruffles Lu Han's hair and heads out of the cafe.

Lu Han pouts. "Does this mean I have to take care of Minseok's tables too?"

The door chimes and groups of students come inside. Lu Han's eyes widen and Yixing chuckles heartily. "Looks like today will be a busy day for you, Lu."

He groans and repeatedly hits his head on the countertop. "I hate Minseok. I hate that baozi. I hate him."

"Oh, look," Yixing says and catches Lu Han's attention. "There's an order for table twelve. Extra large chocolate bubble tea with extra chocolate and extra tapioca balls."

Lu Han sighs. "That's an awful lot of extra." He stands up properly and greets the impatient youngsters who have queued in front of the counter. He's only a few years older than them, but he's more responsible. He should be going to college, but it can wait. He needs to earn extra money first. The group of high school girls is no different from the other group of girls. They're chatty and flirty. And they like Exo.

"Oppa, are you part of the menu too?" one of the girls asks and they all giggle uncontrollably. At least the other group is more appropriate.

"What do you girls want?" he asks, ignoring the girl's question. He smiles at them. Really, this smile-at-customers thing is getting tiring. They rattle off their orders and he rings them, smile still on his blemish-free face. "Alright," he says when they're done. "I'll bring these to you as soon as possible." The girls giggle and walk to a table big enough to accommodate all of them. The next customers are one girl and one boy. Lu Han assumes they’re a couple since their hands are intertwined.

"Hello, lovebirds. What can I get you?"

The girl blushes. "One wintermelon bubble tea and earl grey tea, please.”

“I’ll pay for it,” the boy says.

The girl pouts and says, “No, it’s okay. I’ll pay for it.”

He thinks their flirting is cute, but he has other customers, so he clears his throat. Eventually, they decide that they’ll just pay for each others’ orders. "Alright, then. I'll do my best to serve it as early as possible!"

They both smile at him and walk to a table, still holding hands. He sighs. "Seeing couples makes me really happy," he tells Yixing with a dreamy look on his face. He places the orders down on the counter and rests his chin on his hands.

Yixing stops shaking the bubble tea maker and grins at him. "I'm glad that seeing them makes you happy because you will be alone until the day you shrivel into dust."

It takes everything in Lu Han not to strangle his best friend. "What's wrong with you?" he groans.

"Nothing," Yixing answers cheerfully. He hands Lu Han the extra-large cup. "Please be careful, Lu."

He scoffs, “When am I not careful? And it’s hyung to you.” He struts like a Victoria's Secret Angel to the back of the cafe, the secluded area, just to annoy the hell out of Yixing. He is too busy balancing the drink on his tray that he doesn't see the puddle on the floor. He comically falls, face first, the tray and the drink falling someplace else.

His empty hands reach the floor first, thankfully salvaging his face. He is on all fours when he hears a small, muffled shriek and he looks up to see a man with a face mask, shades, and a baseball cap on. Thinking that the man is out to get him and ignoring the fact that the drink he brought has been uncapped and is upturned and spilling right on the man’s crotch, he screams. He screams until Yixing comes. His best friend helps him up and clamps a hand on his mouth.

"Lu, shut up," Yixing hisses softly, but loud enough for the masked man to hear.

He scowls at him while rubbing his sore knees. "This man is out to murder me!" he proclaims. "Look at him!" He points at the man and turns to look at him, just in time to see him removing his shades and mask.

"He's a valued cus—" Yixing starts but stops when he sees who is behind the mask.

Lu Han's jaw drops as he eyes the drop-dead-damn-it-gorgeous man in front of him. He can't see the color of his hair because of the cap, but he can see his face and he thinks,  _Wow. Am I in heaven?_  He opens his mouth to apologize for mistaking him for a psychopathic killer, but the customer beats him to it.

"He poured my order on me," the man deadpans.

Yixing is a flustered mess as he grabs tissues from his apron—why does he have tissues there?—to try to clean the mess Lu Han made while he apologizes profusely for Lu Han's idiocy. "I am so sorry, Sehun-ssi. Lu is such an idiot. He doesn't know what he's doing two hundred percent of the time. He's really clumsy and stubborn. I'll tell our boss to fire him immediately—"

"Excuse me?!"

"That wouldn't be necessary," the man says and sighs. "Maybe that's why Minseok-ssi doesn't want him to wait on me."

Yixing nods his head so fast that Lu Han thinks he's going to hurt himself.  _I hope he does. Best friend my ass._  He is about to make an intelligent retort when Yixing pushes his head down, forcing him to bow. "Lu, apologize. Now."

He doesn't want to, but there's a stupid policy that says, "The customer is always right." Besides, it is sort of his fault. He mutters out a soft, "Sorry." He stands up straight and sees the man smiling at him.

"No problem," he says. "Nice to meet you. I'm—"

"It's not nice to meet you," he scoffs. He picks up his tray and the spilled drink and glares at him. "You almost cost me my job."

The customer's eyes widen, probably in surprise at how Lu Han suddenly turned from a humble waiter to an arrogant little man. "Excuse me? Is it my fault?"

"Lu," Yixing says with gritted teeth. "If you don't stop now, I'm telling Minseok hyung."

He childishly sticks his tongue out at his best friend. "Baozi won't fire me." He walks away with a huff, muttering curses at the gorgeous man. It's not his fault that he's clumsy! Maybe he should have been more careful, but that doesn't mean it's his fault! It's the puddle's fault for being there. It's also the customer's fault for being so gorgeous and adorable.  _Life is unfair_ , he thinks.

He once again plants his pretty face on the countertop, waiting for Yixing. When his best friend comes, he stands up straight and prepares his best aegyo. He raises his hand to do a bbuing-bbuing when Yixing says, "Hyung, you don't have aegyo. At all. And you're not going to get away with it. I'm telling Minseok hyung."

He grabs onto his best friend's arm and wails, "Don't! Minseok is evil and he will make me pay for the spilled drink."

Yixing pulls his arm away and starts making another extra large chocolate drink with extra tapioca balls and chocolate. "It's your fault. We almost lost a customer."

"Who is that anyway? How come you know him?" he asks and leans on the counter, watching Yixing mix the drinks in fascination.

Yixing stops what he's doing and gestures for Lu Han to come closer. He whispers, "That guy is Oh Sehun, bassist of the band Exo."

"Exo?" he says loudly.

Yixing shushes him, but the girls in the cafe stop their chatter and look at Lu Han. Strawberry, the girl from table six, squeals. "Oppa is a fan of Exo!”

“Have you seen them? I heard Sehun always comes here, but I’ve never seen him here before.”

The girls squeal altogether and go back to gossiping with their friends. Lu Han eyes them weirdly and shakes his head. He turns to Yixing and mouths, "They're mental."

Yixing glares at him. "No one is supposed to know that Sehun-ssi is here. He's been here a few times, but I only found out today. Apparently, Minseok hyung thinks it's not to safe let anyone else know." He pouts and goes back to mixing the drink.

Lu Han stares at him, judging him. "Are you an Exo fan?"

"Yes," Yixing replies without missing a beat. "I have all of their albums."

He doesn't ask more questions, not wanting to participate in his best friend's weird obsession. When he sees him finishing up the drink, he gets his tray ready. To his surprise, Yixing takes the tray from him. "I'm going to serve the drinks. You stay here and make them."

"But I like waiting tables," he whines.

Yixing turns a deaf ear to his pleas and walks back to the secluded area. He glares at his best friend's back, but starts preparing the other customers' drinks. He doesn't want to anger his boss. 

* * *

 Lu Han removes his shoes and climbs up on the counter top. He lies there, exhausted to the core.

"Lu Han, please. I've only just finished cleaning that," Minseok says with a sigh.

He groans and refuses to move. "I'm so tired. This is illegal."

"Yixing worked more than you did, but he still has the energy to clean," Minseok tells him.

He opens his eyes to look at his best friend, who is fixing the tables and singing a song unfamiliar to Lu Han. Most songs are unfamiliar to him. He grew up in the convent with Yixing and his twin sister, having left it only a few years prior. The two have grown accustomed to the real world and they have started listening to pop songs. He, on the other hand, still listens to gospel songs and Christmas carols only.

"He saw Sehon, of course he'd be filled with energy," he answers absent-mindedly.

"It's Sehun, Lu." Minseok raises an eyebrow suspiciously. "Did something happen?"

He changes his position so he can lie more comfortably on the counter. "Oh, you know. The usual. I accidentally spilled his order on him—"

"You what?"

"I spilled—“ he stops himself and looks at the angry baozi. He smiles sheepishly. "Oops?"

"Lu Han," Minseok says, growing angrier with each passing second, "how many times do I have to tell to be careful?!"

"It's not my fault!" he argues.

"Then whose fault is it? Sehun-ssi's?"

"Yes!"

He can see Minseok getting ready to shout at him when the door to the cafe bangs open and a petite young lady with long brown hair enters.

"We're closed!" they both shout.

Yixing, the ever absent-minded boy, looks up in surprise. He waves at the newly arrived. "Hey, Lu Hee."

Lu Hee grins at him and waves back. She sticks her tongue out at the boy on the counter and the angry boss. "You guys are so mean. I don't know how Yixing puts up with you."

Lu Han shrugs and shifts his position again. He's now lying on his stomach. Minseok has, fortunately, calmed down and is staring at Lu Hee. "So what's the news?"

She grins and brings out an envelope from inside her bag. "I got accepted," she takes out the stack of papers inside the envelope, "and I'm going to be an idol soon!" She raises the contract and waits for a reaction.

Minseok blinks and then goes behind the counter to clean up some more. Lu Han doesn't move. Yixing is oblivious.

"I said," she repeats, losing her patience, "I got accepted into SM Entertainment and I'm going to be an idol soon!"

Lu Han raises his head and locks eyes with Minseok. A grin slowly graces his face. He looks at his twin sister, eyes glinting. "Lu Hee, do you know what this means?”

"We can finally find our long-lost mother and my dreams of becoming an idol will come true?"

"No! I don't have to work my ass off in this cafe!" Lu Han says triumphantly.

At the same time, Minseok says, "No! It means this cafe will become even more popular!"

Lu Han turns to Minseok and glares at him. "I'm not going to let you exploit my sister."

"I'm not going to let you have Lu Hee for your own."

"She's my sister! My twin sister!"

"I took you both in! Also Yixing! I practically fed you! I gave you a home!"

"She's still my sister!"

"I'm your boss!"

Lu Hee rolls her eyes, knowing the argument won't end soon. She leaves the bumbling idiots and walks to Yixing, who is still cheerfully cleaning tables. "Yixing, guess what?"

Yixing looks at her with enthusiastic, droopy eyes. "What?"

"I got accepted into SM Entertainment and I'm going to be an idol soon!" It's the third time she repeated the sentence, but it doesn't matter. The sentence needs to be repeated a hundred times. Or more.

Yixing stares at her and slowly but surely, his eyes widen. He puts down the rag he is holding and runs to the restroom to wash his hands. He comes back and hugs Lu Hee. "I am so proud of you, Lu Hee noona."

Lu Hee squeals and hugs him back. "Thank you, Yixing!” She pulls away and grins. “I promise to give you special passes for concerts and other events! You’ll finally meet your Exo hyung-deul!”

Yixing’s jaw drops. “ _You’re_ joining Exo?”

She nods and gets hugged by Yixing again. “I am so proud of you, Hee. I really am.”

“At least you’re proud of me,” she mutters, “My twin brother only thinks about money.”

He laughs and puts an arm around her. “Hey, your brother is proud of you. I know he is. He just doesn’t show it.”

She nods and hugs him again. “Thanks for reminding me.” She stands up straight and her eyes widen. “Oh!” She clears her throat and says loudly, “Hey, Minseokkie oppa, can Lu Han oppa take a day-off tomorrow?”

Minseok and Lu Han stop arguing and the former looks at her curiously. “What for?”

“I need to go shopping,” she says and smiles angelically.

Lu Han pales and Minseok grins evilly. “Sure!” he says happily. “I’ll even give his salary for this month tomorrow!”

Lu Hee claps her hands and Lu Han groans. “Thanks, Minseok oppa! You’re the best!”

Lu Han starts banging his head on the counter. “I don’t want to carry your bags. I don’t want to waste money on your clothes. I don’t want to do anything that involves you.”

They all roll their eyes. They all know Lu Han can’t resist his twin sister.

* * *

 “Oppa, come on.”

Lu Han sighs and drags himself to the woman’s department. He’s thankful that Lu Hee isn’t too picky with the brand of her clothing. As long as it’s comfortable and nice, she’ll take it. She doesn’t like spending too much either. But Lu Han still doesn’t like shopping with her and he has a very good reason.

“Should I get this one or this one?” she asks, holding up a blue dress with one hand a white one with the other. “I’m going to wear this when I sign the contract with the CEO of SM Entertainment!”

“Why don’t you get both?” he suggests, unable to decide which color will suit his sister more, but his eyes widen when he realizes the hole he dug for himself.

Lu Hee pouts. “But it’s a waste of money to get both when they look exactly the same except for the color.” An idea crosses her head and she smiles at him slyly. “Oppa, I know you want to go home as soon as possible, so why don’t you help me?”

“No,” he replies swiftly. “I will not wear that dress. I’ve had enough of you dressing me up like a doll. No. I will not concede.”

A few minutes later, the twins stand side by side in front of the mirror outside the dressing room. Lu Hee is wearing the blue dress and her doll shoes. Lu Han is wearing the white dress, ending an inch above his knees, and his chucks. His legs are bigger than hers due to playing soccer.

They stare at their reflections, amazed at how alike they really are. They look exactly the same except for Lu Hee’s long hair and Lu Han’s leg muscles.

“So? Have you decided?”

“I think... I’ll get both,” she says.

He looks at her in horror and tries not to strangle her on the spot. “You made me wear this for nothing?”

She smiles sheepishly and twirls her hair with her index finger. “I’m sorry?” she supplies.

He groans and stalks back to the dressing room and she follows him, saying, “Oppa!” They don’t notice the masked blond boy watching them with interest.

They change back to their previous outfits and Lu Han fixes his hair to make himself look manly. He needs to get back his masculinity. He trudges behind a happy Lu Hee, not really interested. He wallows in self-pity, unaware of the world, until a pile of clothes is shoved in his direction. He raises his head and looks at his sister questioningly.

“I didn’t say I was only going to shop for myself,” she says. “I saw the shirt you were wearing the other day. It had a hole.” She pushes him to the direction of the dressing room while saying, “You always buy me stuff and you always forget about yourself. You’ll never get a boyfriend if you keep thinking about me.”

He faces her and gives her a stern look. “Lu Hee-ya! I promised to Mother Superior that I would take care of you and Yixing. The two of you are my priorities. I also promised to our father before he passed away that I would always take care of you. He left you under my care.”

She smiles sincerely but still pushes him towards the room. “Appa also left you under my care. So whether you like it or not, I will take care of you. Now, go get dressed and show me how handsome you are.”

He sighs and walks inside a cubicle on his own. He really loves his sister. He will do anything for her. He changes into the clothes she handed him. He stares at himself before leaving the cubicle. It’s just a graphic white shirt and black jeans, but he still feels special because his sister chose them for him. He exits the room and poses in front of his sister. “Well?”

She grins and gives him two thumbs up. “Oppa, you look handsome.”

* * *

 “Sehun, where are you going?”

Sehun fixes his blond hair one last time before nodding at the leader. “Out.”

Jongin stands from the couch and runs to the door. He spreads his arms before shaking his head. “You’re not leaving.”

Sehun rolls his eyes and tries pushing the older-by-a-few-months boy away. “It’s not for you to decide.”

Jongin holds on to his arm and whines, “Don’t leave me here with Yifan hyung.”

“Kris,” the leader says.

“I don’t want to listen to him ranting about the national fairy,” he continues. He meets Sehun’s eyes and pouts.

The leader just continues playing with his phone, probably stalking the national fairy, the love of his life.

The youngest grimaces and pulls his arm away. “Hyung, you can go out, you know?”

Kris raises his head and looks at him weirdly. “Did you hit your head or something?”

Jongin hits him on the head. “I can’t believe you forgot. Our English tutor is coming over today!” Hearts appear in his eyes as he hugs himself. “I can’t leave. Seonsaengnim will get really angry if I do.”

Kris shakes his head and goes back to his phone. He starts smiling and Sehun  _knows_  it’s because the national fairy did something cute.

“What happened this time? A new tweet?” he mocks.

A blush appears on the leader’s cheeks as he nods. “A tweet with a selca.”

“You’re hopeless,” he tells him. He points to Jongin and tells him, “You’re hopeless too.” He shudders and opens the door. “I don’t want to be surrounded by crazy people like you two.”

“You’re mean!” Jongin shouts while Kris ignores him, as usual.

He leaves their dorm in a huff and meets their manager, Jongdae, outside the gate. Their manager is only a few years older than him and is actually younger than the leader, but is very capable. He cooks really good food too. He also likes pranking the other two members, which Sehun appreciates very much.

“To the bubble tea shop?” Jongdae asks as he gets in the car.

He enters the car and answers, “Yes, hyung.”

“Why do you keep going back to that shop?” Jongdae asks curiously. He looks at Sehun in the rearview mirror.

The maknae maintains a straight face and answers simply, “Just because.” He looks outside and observes the busy streets of Seoul. He vividly remembers the day he was scouted by someone from his current company. He was just fifteen and he didn’t know what to do. He thought the man was making fun of him so he ran away. The chase went on for thirty minutes until the scout caught him and gave him bubble tea. He cracks a small smile as he remembers how his mom had scolded him for being bribed by just bubble tea. But to his defense, the man showed him his ID.

He was not really interested in becoming an idol, but he thought that it would be nice to give it a try. He auditioned and fortunately, he got in. And now, here he is, the bassist of the most popular group in Asia.

“Sehun, we’re here,” Jongdae says, stopping his train of thoughts.

Sehun mumbles his thanks and wears his mask and cap. He opens the door of the car and exits. His one foot is already out when he sees Lu Han and a Lu Han lookalike leave the store. He retreats to his car and watches the two walk to the bus stop.

“Well? Aren’t you going inside?” Jongdae asks him curiously.

He continues watching as he answers, “No, I’m”—he sees them enter a bus—“Hyung, follow that bus!”

Jongdae looks at him confusedly, but he starts shaking him. He points to the bus, which is already moving. “Hyung! Follow that bus!” The manager blinks and then shrugs his shoulders. They chase the bus with Sehun clutching the edge of his seat.

The only reason why Sehun goes to the bubble tea shop during his day-off is to see Lu Han, the apple of his eye. And although he refuses to admit it, he's just as hopeless as Jongin and Kris.

They end up in a department store and Sehun makes up the excuse that he wants to go shopping. Jongdae doesn’t protest and tells him that he wants to go shopping too. They part ways with Jongdae going to a music store and Sehun following Lu Han and Lu Han II.

He doesn’t call it stalking, but he doesn’t have a word for it either. It’s just not stalking. He ducks behind a mannequin when he sees the two walking towards him. He can’t be caught. After getting Lu Han into trouble the day before, he thinks the boy won’t appreciate seeing him that soon.

He trails after them and he remembers the day he met Lu Han. It happened half a year ago. He was shopping with the other members when he saw him in the women’s section, buying dresses. He followed him even when the other boarded the bus and until they reached the shop. He dismissed it as mindless fascination at first, but when he kept coming back to see him, he came to a realization.

_I have a_ tiny  _crush on him_ , he thinks.  _It’s not my fault. He has really nice doe eyes and an ugly but cute smile—_

“Oof!”

He bumps into someone and almost falls on top of that someone. He quickly shifts their positions so he can cradle the other’s fall. He closes his eyes and winces when his back hits the hard ground. He opens his eyes and sees a  _very_  familiar pair of doe eyes looking back at him.


	2. To be, or not to be

“Oppa, are you okay?”

Lu Hee helps him up and he smiles at her sheepishly. “Yeah. I wasn’t watching where I was going.” He looks at the man still sprawled on the ground and offers his hand. When the other takes his hand, he pulls him up. He stares at the other man’s eyes for a long time, without even realizing it. Lu Hee nudges his side and he snaps out of the trance. He bows and says, “Sorry. And thank you for taking my fall.” He bows again before tugging his sister away.

“Okay, what was that?” she asks when they start walking. She spares a glance behind her and stifles a giggle when she sees the man still standing there.

Lu Han squeezes his sister’s hand to make her look in front. “Don’t look back,” he hisses.

“He’s dazed,” she comments, still looking back. “He’s frozen in his spot.”

“Lu Hee,” he warns.

Lu Hee looks at him and laughs. “He is _so_ into you. Just look at him.”

He bites his lip and looks back, but he is startled when he sees the man looking back at him. He looks back in front, his face reddening. “Why didn’t you say he was looking?”

Lu Hee laughs again and says, “Well, he wasn’t. He probably felt that you were going to look at him and so he looked too.”

He glares at her, but adds softly, “I have to admit though. He smells nice.”

She wants to continue teasing his brother, but the small smile on his face stops her. They don’t talk about the man again even when they get back to the shop. Lu Han immediately retreats to his room with his purchases.

She doesn’t tell him that she has figured out who the mystery man is.

* * *

He drops the bags on the wooden floor and plops on the single bed. His room is small and he shares it with Yixing. There are two single beds on two sides of the room, a clothes rack that he also shares with his best friend, and a drawer for each of them. The room is part of their wage. Minseok doesn’t ask them for rent.

He feels incredibly lucky that Minseok is a kind soul, who has too much money to spare. His boss is actually the third son of the CEO of a business conglomerate. Unlike his two elder brothers, he gets to do whatever he wants. When he was eighteen, he decided to start his own business. He _loves_ money and is practically married to it, but only if he makes it on his own and if he earns it the right way.

The door opens and he hears footsteps nearing him. He doesn’t need to look to know who it is. He just _knows_. The bed dips when the person sits.

“Oppa?”

“Hm, dongsaeng?” he says affectionately.

Lu Hee laughs and lies beside him. Only his twin is allowed on his bed. They look like sardines stuck in a can as he pulls Lu Hee towards him to keep her from falling.

“I’ll be famous someday,” Lu Hee says. “And then we’ll have lots of money and we can buy a bigger bed. We’ll find mom and she can live with us. And then you can go back to school.”

He hums. _That’s a good dream_ , he thinks. _And it will come true soon._ He wants Lu Hee’s dream to come true, except for one part. He doesn’t want to find their mother. Is the woman who abandoned them worthy to be called mother? 

“Oppa, what do you want to do?” she asks, stopping his train of thoughts. With great difficulty, she shifts her position so she can look at him. “Don’t answer whatever _I_ want to do. I’m asking you what _you_ want to do. You always just go along with whatever I want and I don’t think that’s fair.”

He stares at her and thinks. It is true that he always puts Lu Hee first. He barely does anything for himself. So, now that he’s faced with such a question, he doesn’t know how to respond. What does he want? “I—I don’t know,” he answers truthfully. “I’ve never really thought about it.”

The masked man suddenly appears in his mind—surprising him—and he blushes unconsciously. _It’s weird_ , he thinks, _Why do I keep thinking of him? I don’t even know who he is… right?_

“Oppa, are you there?” Lu Hee waves a hand in front of him, snapping him back to reality.

He blinks and looks at her, confused. “Huh?”

She scoffs and sits up. “Were you thinking about the masked man? You have the same expression as earlier.”

He blushes even more and kicks his sister. She ungracefully lands on the floor with a thud. “Stop talking nonsense,” he tells her.

The door suddenly bursts open and Yixing and Minseok come in. Yixing lies on his bed with an exhausted sigh. Minseok sits on the floor in front of Lu Hee.

“You got kicked again?” Yixing asks, addressing the younger twin.

She rolls her eyes. “I was just asking him about the man he met—“

Lu Han swiftly pulls the pillow from under his head and hits his twin. “Shut it,” he hisses.

She raises her hands in surrender before bursting into a fit of giggles. Lu Han glares at her while Minseok and Yixing stare at him in surprise.

“Lu Han, the boy who only flirts and never commits, has fallen in love?” Minseok asks slowly.

“I thought you’d be alone forever,” Yixing says honestly, without a hint of mockery. “Does this mean we won’t have to worry about you growing old alone?”

“Who’s the guy who managed to make our Lu Han fall in love?” Minseok adds.

Lu Hee just blinks, at a loss on what to do. Romance is a sensitive topic when it comes to his brother. She doesn’t know how a simple joke turned into something so serious.

The older twin has had enough and he stands on his bed. He points at his best friend. “You,” he says and then points to his boss, “and you. My life is not like those dramas you watch. Go ship Lee Seung Go and Shin Man Ah or whatever you guys do and whoever they are. Just leave me out of this.” He sticks his tongue out at them and leaves the room in a huff.

He walks to their small kitchen, separate from the shop’s kitchen, and opens the fridge. He grabs a bottle of orange juice and angrily gulps everything up until the last drop. He slams in on the counter and wipes his mouth.

He doesn’t like talking about romance. As far as he’s concerned, there are only three kinds of love. The first one is platonic love, which he has with Minseok. The next one is familial love, which exists between him and Lu Hee and him and Yixing. Last, but definitely not the least, is the love that subsists in him and God.

He likes watching happy couples. Seeing them makes him happy and giddy, as if he’s the one experiencing it. But that’s all there is to it. There is no such thing as romantic love for him. Sure, he’s had some crushes and some flings here and there, but nothing too serious. Nothing that will make him settle down. He scoffs. He’s seen enough failed marriages that resulted in broken homes and orphaned children. He doesn’t want to risk hurting his future children, if he decides to have them. He doesn’t want to hurt himself.

He will never _ever_ fall in love.

He feels someone sneak behind him and a pair of arms wrap around his waist. “Oppa, are you angry?”

He smiles and holds his sister’s arms. “Nope. I know you guys mean well. But I won’t be alone for the rest of my life. I have you.”

Another pair of arms wrap around him. “You have me too, hyung,” Yixing adds.

Minseok, the smallest among the four of them, squeezes in between Yixing and Lu Hee to hug him. “Me too!”

His heart soars as his family shower him with warmth, sincerity, and love.

* * *

 

“So, what exactly are you going to do in Exo?” Lu Han asks his sister as they eat their breakfast. He eats a spoonful of rice and looks at her pointedly while chewing his food.

Yixing drinks a glass of water and says honestly, “You’re not exactly the best singer, you know.”

Lu Han and Minseok bite their lips as they try to hold in their laughter. Yixing is too honest, but he is saying the truth. Lu Hee, although musically-inclined, cannot hold a tone.

Lu Hee blushes, embarrassed, but she doesn’t have the heart to glare at Yixing. The boy is too oblivious and innocent. “I’m going to play the drums,” she tells them.

Yixing raises his eyebrows. “But doesn’t Jongin play the drums?” he asks.

She chews the food in her mouth, swallows it, and answers, “Jongin wants to play the guitar, actually. But he has no choice but to play the drums instead since neither Sehun nor Kris can.”

Yixing shrugs, content with the explanation, and goes back to eating. Minseok, on the other hand, narrows his eyes at her. “Okay, wait up. Are you saying the entertainment is willing to shuffle the roles of the members just to put you in?”

She nods.

“Won’t that make the fans angry?” the boss continues. “You know how _rabid_ their fans are. What if they end up hating you?”

“I’m not going to let them hurt my sister!” Lu Han proclaims. He shoves a piece of bacon inside his mouth and says, “Maybe I can be your personal bodyguard?”

Lu Hee baulks in disgust. “Oppa, chew your food first. You’re disgusting.”

The older twin shrugs his shoulders and continues eating his food. He likes Korean food, but bacon is heaven. “Bacon is good. Bacon is yum—“

“Lu Hee,” Minseok says, voice rising a few decibels and effectively cutting off Lu Han’s nonsensical rant, “you still haven’t answered my question.”

She sighs. “I actually don’t know what will happen. But I guess change will be good. I think the fans will want to see Jongin play a different instrument,” she says uncertainly.

“This is troublesome,” Minseok mutters.

“Sorry,” she mumbles and starts playing with her food.

“Don’t worry,” he reassures her immediately. “I’ll ask my father for a team of the best bodyguards in Korea. I’ll have them guard you in case something happens.”

She grins. Although there’s really no reason for that since the entertainment can provide the security, she’s still grateful. “Thanks, oppa.”

Minseok grabs his phone and starts making some calls.

“I told you I can be your personal bodyguard,” Lu Han intervenes. “I can learn kung fu and taichi and protect you from delusional fans—“

“Sehun is part of the band,” Yixing says. “If you want to see him everyday, then go be Lu Hee’s bodyguard.”

Lu Han shuts up and shudders. He shakes his head vehemently. “No, thanks. He’s an evil soul pretending to be Adonis.”

Lu Hee looks at him weirdly. “You know Sehun? I thought you have no interest in idols?”

“I don’t,” he deadpans. Before he can explain any further, Lu Hee’s phone rings. She checks the caller ID and her eyes widen. She hurriedly takes the call and says, “Hello?”

They don’t hear what the person on the other line says, but Lu Hee says, “Alright. Bye!”

“Who’s that?” Lu Han asks.

“Chanyeol oppa,” Lu Hee answers. She stands from her seat. “He’s waiting outside the shop. I’ll be back in a bit.”

She leaves the dining room and after a few minutes, she comes back with a tall, gangly boy with large ears and a mischievous-looking face. At the same time, Minseok hangs up.

They all stand and bow at the visitor. The tall visitor bows back and introduces himself. “Hello. I am Chanyeol, Lu Hee’s ma—oh! Lu Hee two point oh!” He points at Lu Han, eyes wide and mouth agape. He turns to Lu Hee and tells her, “He does look _exactly_ like you. I can’t believe it!”

The three men look at Chanyeol in surprise. The man’s voice has taken them by surprise. His childlike face is the exact opposite of his voice. 

Chanyeol claps his hands excitedly and says, “That is so cool!” But Chanyeol’s excitement soon fades and he sighs.

“What’s wrong?” Lu Hee, Minseok, and Lu Han ask. Yixing looks at the three of them and then at the manager in confusion.

Chanyeol rubs the back of his neck and says, “You see, the president changed his mind about making you a drummer.”

Lu Hee gasps. “Does that mean I’m out of the group?”

“Maybe you can play the keyboard instead?” Lu Han suggests.

Chanyeol shakes his head. “The president wants you to _sing_.”

Lu Hee’s knees wobble and she almost falls to ground, but Yixing fortunately catches her before she falls. “Sing?!”

The manager nods gravely. “He thought that since you could play just about any instrument, you’d be a good singer too. But I know for a fact that you cannot sing even a single note—“

“Thanks,” Lu Hee says wryly.

“—so I made some plans to send you to America,” he finishes.

“You’re going to send Lu Hee to America? Why?” Lu Han demands, his brotherly instincts kicking in.

“Isn’t that illegal?” Minseok asks.

Chanyeol gulps, obviously not used to situations like that. “It will just be for two months!” he says. “I’ve contacted a good vocal trainer in America. I’m pretty sure that in two months, you’d be able to sing like a pro.”

They all sigh in relief.

“But there’s a catch,” Chanyeol continues. “The president wants you to kickoff your career by giving you solo activities. He wants you to debut as a solo artist first.”

Lu Hee pales. “But I can’t—I _can’t_ sing.”

“Not yet,” the manager reminds her. “But the problem is, he wants you to debut next month.”

The younger twin closes her eyes and leans on Yixing. “I’m going to die.”

They all fall silent and only the chirping of the birds outside can be heard. Lu Han feels his heart breaking for his sister. He knows how long his sister has waited for his moment. He knows how much his sister wants to become an idol. He knows how much she wants to see their mother, even if she abandoned them.

“Oppa,” Lu Hee says silently.

He looks at her and asks softly, “Yes?”

“Will you stand in my place while I train?”

He blinks. Minseok stares. Yixing furrows his eyebrows. Chanyeol guffaws.

She exhales deeply. “Oppa, unlike me, you _can_ sing. You have a beautiful voice.” When Lu Han doesn’t answer, she continues, “You and I look exactly alike. We have the same voice and the same face. We even have the same lithe body! You’re flat-chested, _obviously_ , but that’s not such a big problem. Oh, and just pretend that you cut your hair. Oppa, no one will notice. Please, just for two months?” She blinks her eyes and bites her lower lip.

He stares at her, still in shock. “What?”

Chanyeol claps his hands in delight. “That’s a great idea!”

“It’s not a great idea,” Lu Han hisses.

“Actually, it will work,” Yixing says slowly. He looks at his best friend and his best friend’s younger sister. “Remember when we were fifteen? Lu Hee got the same hairstyle as you and everyone in the convent kept mistaking you for her.”

He glares at his best friend. “Aren’t you supposed to be forgetful? Why are you suddenly remembering things now?”

“I couldn’t forget that because it was so funny!”

He huffs and turns to Minseok. “Well, aren’t you going to say anything?”

Minseok guiltily looks at his slipper-clad feet. “Do you really want to get in the way of Lu Hee’s dream?” he asks softly.

He gapes. He looks at his best friend, at his sister, and then at his boss. He can usually trust Minseok to be level-headed. He knows the smaller man can make good decisions. But why is he pushing him further down the hole? “Are you serious? Are you ganging up on me?”

He slams his hand on the table, making the plates rattle. “Have you ever even thought about what _I_ want?” He closes his eyes and grits his teeth. “I’m not going to do it. It’s not because I don’t love you, Hee. But please think about what I want too. Maybe the idol life isn’t for you.” He turns his back and starts walking towards his room.

* * *

 

“Hi,” Kris says as he walks inside the room. “I’m Wu Yifan, but you can call me—“

“Kris.” A tall figure, but shorter than Kris, turns around to face the leader of Exo. He has bags under his eyes and he has a stern look on his face. “Everyone knows who you are.” The hard look in his eyes softens and he smiles. “I know who you are.”

Kris feels his heart racing. His mind goes black and he mutters a string of incoherent words. “You—me—fairy—pretty—panda—“

The man’s smile widens and he _giggles_ softly. “You don’t have to be so nervous, Kris ge.”

The taller man swoons and he feels his knees go weak. He clears his throat and tries to regain his composure. “A—Actually, I’m a huge fan,” he stutters. He mentally curses himself for being such a weakling. If Sehun and Jongin can see him now, they’ll probably laugh at him. _Ungrateful twerps_ , he thinks.

The man giggles yet again. His personality is totally off with his look. But maybe it’s just his way of luring his opponents into his trap. He’ll laugh and act all cute and cuddly and then brandish his sword and strike when it’s too late for them to leave. Kris gulps. He’s in danger, but he thinks, _Isn’t love dangerous?_

“I don’t really know why you’re here for,” the shorter man says, “but I’m glad. You make me feel rejuvenated.” He walks over to Kris and squeezes his shoulder. “If I win against my opponent today, feel free to visit me again next time.” He leaves the room, but not before beaming at the leader.

When he is gone, Kris allows himself to fall on the ground. He feels like there’s an earthquake inside his stomach. He feels queasy, but the good kind and not the bad. He looks at the door and although he can’t see the man anymore, he whispers, “Tao.”

* * *

 

Kyungsoo sighs and slams his head on the table. “Jongin-ah,” he whimpers.  He’s been tutoring Jongin even before he debuted with the others, but he still can’t speak Mandarin properly. “You’ve been saying this phrase since you debuted _three_ years ago. How come you still can’t say it properly?”

Jongin pouts. He likes his tutor. He really does. But sometimes, he finds him annoying. _But he’s still cute,_ he thinks. He sighs. Why does he need to learn a different language again? Aside from Mandarin, he also has to learn English _and_ Japanese.

Kyungsoo raises his head and looks at the younger boy emotionlessly. “I know what you’re thinking. You’re wondering why you have to learn different languages.”

His face lights up and he smiles. “Hyung, you know me so—“

“Learning different languages is a necessity,” the tutor lectures him, “if you plan on touring around the world. You have to know how to communicate with your international fans if you want to let them know how much you appreciate them.

“But Kris hyung can do that for us!” he whines.

Kyungsoo sighs and grabs his face gently. “Look, we’re going to practice, okay? You can do it.”

Jongin can’t control the blush spreading on his cheeks nor the smile threatening to rip out his face. The different languages hate him, but at least his tutor doesn’t. He knows Kyungsoo doesn’t. And as long as his tutor is there, he’ll do his best to learn the language.

He likes Kyungsoo. He really does.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!


	3. The Inception of Deception

Lu Han sighs as he leaves the shop. He heads to the supermarket to buy more ingredients for the shop. It’s Lu Hee’s job, but things have been tense ever since the manager dropped by. Lu Han still refuses to be Lu Hee and the younger twin refuses to talk to him until he agrees. But Lu Han really doesn’t want to go on pretending to be his sister. To make up for it, he does all of Lu Hee’s jobs. His twin doesn’t react, still upset.

He walks inside the Park Mart, which is unusually empty. He takes a basket and walks to the milk aisle. He looks for the particular brand of fresh milk that Minseok like and sees it situated on the top shelf. He stands on the tips of his toes, but only the tips of his fingers brush the carton of milk.

He groans. He knows he’s not very tall, but he’s not that short either. He’s taller than most guys—Minseok and Yixing—so he knows that his height isn’t that disgraceful.

“Do you need help?”

“Yes, please.”

The carton of milk is plucked from the topmost shelf and given to him. He turns to the man who helped him to thank him and is surprised when he recognizes him. He knows who the man is despite the obnoxiously large shades obscuring more than half of his face.

“Chanyeol?”

The said man removes his shades and grins. “Hello, Lu Han-ssi.”

“Thanks for helping me,” he deadpans. “But I’m still not going to do it.” He waves and hurries away before the taller man can say anything.

He continues shopping, picking up various ingredients and fruits, and fortunately for him, he doesn’t encounter the tall elf again. Once he’s sure that he has everything he needs, he heads to the counter to check out his items and almost gets a heart attack. The tall elfish creature is there, standing with a stupid grin. “What the heck?”

“It’s my part-time job,” he explains cheerfully. “We actually own this supermarket.” He takes Lu Han’s basket and starts checking out the items with ease. He doesn’t make small talk and only speaks after he’s done checking out everything. “That will be 75, 000 won.”

Lu Han gulps and fishes his wallet out of his pocket. He takes out the few bills inside and counts them. He lacks 10, 000 won. “Can you remove an item worth 10, 000 won?” he mumbles. “I don’t have enough money.”

“Oh, that’s okay!” Chanyeol says lively. He leans in and whispers, “I’ll just pay for it and you can pay me back next time.” He takes the bills from his hands and ignores the smaller boy’s protests.

“I don’t want to be in debt,” he grumbles. But he doesn’t really have a choice. “I’ll pay you back later.”

Chanyeol grins. “That’s good. I’ll stop by your shop later.”

“Why, hello, dear!”

They both turn to the source of voice and see a woman in her mid-fifties walk to them with a cheery grin. Judging by the wide smile, he thinks she’s the mother of Chanyeol.

“Hey, mom!” Chanyeol greets her, a wide grin still plastered on his face.

The mother pays him no heed and hugs Lu Han instead. “I haven’t seen you in a while! And I see you cut your hair! You still look good, of course.” She looks at Chanyeol and says while shooing them out of the store, “Go and accompany this young lady back to the shop. I’ll just man the cashier for you. And don’t forget to bring back some earl grey milk tea.”

“Yes, mom!” Chanyeol answers just before the glass door closes completely. He grins at Lu Han and grabs one of the plastic bags Lu Han is holding. “Well, let’s go, miss.”

Lu Han bows and leaves. He doesn't even complain that Chanyeol carrying one of the bags is a disgrace to his manliness—it's heavy, anyway. He doesn't speak much during the walk back to the shop. Chanyeol, to his surprise, is very quiet. The tall manager seems to be thinking about something deeply.

He figures out what Chanyeol is thinking about when he sees a large supermarket bustling with people. "Hey," he says, "Why was your supermarket empty? I don't usually shop, but back then, whenever I went to your store, it was always bustling with people."

The tall elf suddenly frowns. "Our customers got stolen," he says sadly. "Did you see that supermarket we just walked past? Most of our regular customers transferred to that store."

Lu Han tries to not gasp out loud. "Did something happen?"

"Yeah," he says mournfully. "That supermarket opened up recently. We pretty much have the same products and the prices don't differ, but that market is endorsed by that new girl group, Blue Gale. One of the members is the daughter of the storeowner." His frown deepens. "Naturally, people prefer that over our shop."

Lu Han nods understandingly. He knows how awful it feels to lose customers. A few months ago, their bubble tea shop, BaoMin, almost went down the dumps when the stylish cafe beside theirs opened. But the cafe lacked the polite and gorgeous workers and tasty drinks. They immediately went back to BaoMin and only newcomers went to the cafe. "Why don't you ask help from your company?"

Chanyeol scratches his head. "I'm new to the company. I can't suddenly ask for something like that. Besides, it’s a family business and it’s not affiliated to the company at all.”

Lu Han grows quiet for a moment and says softly, "My twin promised to help you, didn't she?"

The manager doesn't reply and he knows he's right. They don't speak afterwards, not knowing what to say anymore. As they round the corner, they see a black car stop in front of the shop and a young man alights the car. The man is wearing a face mask.

For a minute, Lu Han mistakes the man as his masked man and almost runs to him, but he soon realizes that the man is Sehun. He hisses and hides behind Chanyeol.

"What are you doing?" the tall elf asks, looking at the hiding Lu Han. He averts his gaze to look at where Lu Han is looking. His eyes widen. "Oh, hey. It's Se—aah!"

Lu Han pinches Chanyeol and shushes him. "He's Lu Hee's future bandmate, right?"

"Yeah," Chanyeol answers, confused. "He's the maknae."

"Then he can't see me like this," he says, "if I'm going to pretend to be Lu Hee for awhile." The manager looks at him, surprised but glad. He ignores the look and pulls the taller man to an alleyway. "We'll use the backdoor."

He doesn't inform him that hiding from Sehun is no use because the man has already seen him. He doesn't tell him that the real reason he is avoiding the man is because of the incident that happened a few weeks back.

"Does that mean you're alright with pretending to be Lu Hee?" Chanyeol whispers as they sneak behind in stealth mode.

He doesn't know why they are whispering, but he answers back, "I'm still thinking about it, but I'll give it a chance."

Chanyeol hoots and claps his hands like a seal. "Great!" he says loudly, forgetting that they're trying to go incognito. "Then you can finally find your mom."

"I'm not really keen on finding my mom," he says quietly. He stands up straight, not finding any reason to act like ninjas anymore. Sehun can't see them, unless he can see through walls. Lu Han doesn't dismiss the idea because Sehun's superhuman good looks has to be partnered with some sort of superpower. "I still haven't forgiven her for abandoning us. Dad worked so hard for us, but he eventually died. From heartbreak, I guess."

"I'm sorry—"

"It's not your fault," Lu Han says, voice hard. He hates it when people apologize when it's not even their fault. "But Lu Hee really wants to see her and I don't want her to blame me for the rest of our lives for being selfish. Besides, that woman is still our mom, no matter what she did."

Chanyeol stops walking and he turns back to ask why. He sees him looking at him in awe. "I may have underestimated you," Chanyeol says sincerely. "Lu Han-ssi, you're amazing."

Lu Han rolls his eyes and says, "Stop dilly-dallying. These bags are heavy. Come on." When he turns his back to Chanyeol, he lets a smile play on his lips. It feels good to hear sincere praise once in a while.

They reach the backdoor of the shop, which connects to the living room. He fumbles with the keys and Chanyeol helpfully takes the bags from him. He opens the door and immediately spots Lu Hee lying on the couch and lazing about. A bag of chips lay on the floor.

"Aren't idols supposed to be fit? Why are you eating chips and doing _nothing_?"

Lu Hee turns her eyes away from the television to glare at him, but she shoots up when she sees Chanyeol. "Manager-nim! What are you doing here?"

"He helped me with the groceries," Lu Han answers, taking the bags from Chanyeol and placing them on the floor. He makes a mental note to tell Yixing about them later after the modern-day Adonis leaves their shop.

"I didn't ask you," she says spitefully while tidying up the room. "You could have used the front door, but no, you had to lead him to a dirty alleyway and use the backdoor."

"One of your bandmates is there," he answers and plops down on the couch. "Sehun. Apparently, he's a regular customer here."

"So you're hiding from him? Why?" Lu Hee asks, trying to sound mean as possible.

The manager stiffens on his spot and stands there awkwardly.

"Scared that he'll kill you after you poured his bubble tea on him?" she spats. Lu Han ignores the fact that Yixing tattled again and told his twin about _the legendary bubble tea accident_. It's legendary because he poured bubble tea on what the new generation of teenagers calls a legend.

Chanyeol suddenly grins, remembering how annoyed Sehun was the day he came back to the dorm, sticky and smelling like chocolate and tea.

The older twin smiles understandingly. "I know you're angry—"

Lu Hee gasps mockingly. "How did you know?"

"But what you're asking for is unreasonable."

" _You're_ unreasonable."

"It's a stupid idea."

"Are you trying to imply that _I'm_ stupid?"

"But I've decided to spoil you again—"

"If I'm stupid, then so are you. We're twins, you idiot."

"—if you promise to never ask for anything like this ever again."

Lu Hee opens her mouth to retort, but her brother's words sink in. "Are you..."

Lu Han nods and smiles gently. Chanyeol looks at them proudly from the sidelines.

The younger twin screams and tackles Lu Han down. "Oppa, thank you. I swear, I'll do my best in America. Thank you, thank you, thank—"

"Don't touch Lu Hee, you malicious and perverted bastard!" Minseok screams and enters the room, wielding knives as if they're double blades.

Yixing runs after him, holding a broom and a duster. "Hyung, no! World peace is important!"

Minseok is about to scream a battlecry, but sees the twins and the manager looking at him strangely. "Where's the perpetrator?" he asks.

Lu Han pushes his twin to the side and sits up on the floor. "What are you talking about?"

"We heard Lu Hee's scream, so we rushed here to save her," Yixing supplies. He grins when he sees that Lu Hee is unharmed and is actually looking happy. "But she looks okay."

"I'm better than okay!" she squeals. "Oppa finally—" Her speech is cut off when Lu Han hurriedly places his hand over her mouth and pulls her down. He does his best to hide the both of them, grateful that they have petite bodies.

"What happened?" someone, who sounds out of breath, asks.

Lu Hee looks at her brother, confused.

"Sehun," he mouths and his twin nods understandingly. They breathe as quietly as possible and avoid moving.

"Ah, Sehun-ssi." He can see in his mind that Minseok and Yixing are bowing to show respect to their beloved customer.

"Sehun-ah! Hey, it's surprising to see you here."

"Chanyeol hyung, why are you here? But are you—hey, there's something under the table."

The twins hear footsteps walking towards them and Lu Han's hold on Lu Hee tightens. The younger twin looks like she's enjoying their predicament and her brother's discomfort.

"Ah, there was a robber earlier. He ran outside and even brought one of the shop's throw pillows," Chanyeol answers.

Lu Han sees him stand in front of the table and he reminds himself to thank the manager later. Soon enough, they hear the sound of a door banging and Chanyeol shouting, "Hey, Sehun! You can't leave! Hey!"

Chanyeol peeks under the table and says hurriedly, "I'll just catch Sehun. I don't want him to cause trouble. I'll be right back."

Lu Han sighs, relieved that Sehun isn't around anymore. He crawls from under the table and finds his best friend and boss looking at him pointedly. "You're going to have to explain what the hell is going on," Minseok says sternly.

"Don't curse, hyung!" Yixing says cheerfully as he helps Lu Hee stand up.

Lu Han smiles sheepishly and turns to Lu Hee, stepping down and letting her explain. The younger twin grins and claps her hand. "Oppa has finally agreed to take my place while I stay in America."

* * *

 

Sehun steps out of his car and walks inside the shop hurriedly. He pulls down his cap to cover his face. He doesn't want anyone to figure out that he is the Oh Sehun, even if all his fans know that he loves his shop.

He nods at the waiter working at the counter, who grins at him angelically, and heads to the back of the shop, the place reserved for him. He sighs sadly when he doesn't see the apple of his eye and plops down on the couch resignedly.

The boss doesn't come to take his order anymore. He already knows what his order is. He takes out his phone and removes his mask and cap. He poses and takes a selca of himself, intending to post it later on. There are fewer customers lately and he wants to help the shop prosper as much as he can.

A few months ago, the cafe beside BaoMin opened up. The bubble tea shop lost most of its regular customers. He saw how devastated the owner and workers—especially Lu Han—were, so he took a selca and posted it on his Instagram. His fans didn't upset him for when he made Jongdae, one of their managers, check out the shop the next day, it was bustling with people. The next time he came, he saw Lu Han's bright smile again.

Lu Han's smile makes him happy.

He's willing to do anything to make him happy. He smiles to himself and nearly misses the buzzing of his phone. He picks it up with a frown, annoyed that someone is ruining his daydreaming-about-Lu time.

"Hello?" he says, not bothering to hide how displeased he is.

_"Sehun, there are reporters around the area. Be careful. There are rumors going around that you're dating someone from Blue Gale. If they find out that you're in a shop that is near the supermarket of one of the members, you're doomed."_

He sighs. "Yeah, hyung. I'll be careful. You worry too much."

_"Well, it's my job to worry,"_ Jongdae says, _"whether you like it or not. Alright, I'll just be around the corner. Call me once you're done."_

"Yeah. Thanks, hyung." The moment he presses the end button, he hears a loud scream coming from the back of the shop. He pockets his phone, takes his cap and puts it on, and rushes to where he heard the scream. His heart is pounding loudly and he thinks of the worst-case scenarios. The image of a bloody Lu Han lying on the floor has him running to the back, bumping into tables and chairs.

He arrives at the scene, breathing heavily. He sees something falling, but ignores it. "What happened?"

"Ah, Sehun-ssi," the boss says, surprised. He bows and the other worker bows.

"Sehun-ah! Hey, it's surprising to see you here."

He shifts his attention to their other manager, the newest one. He furrows his eyebrows, confused as to what he's doing there. "Chanyeol hyung, why are you here? But are you"— he stops when he sees a shoe peeking from under the table—"hey, there's something under the table."

He walks forward to check it out, but Chanyeol suspiciously steps in front of it. "Ah, there was a robber earlier. He ran outside and even brought one of the shop's throw pillows," the taller man says.

He looks at Chanyeol, doubting what he said, but he realizes that the robber must have been a stalker. _Maybe he wants something that has Lu Han's scent..._ he doesn't even finish his train of thought and runs out of the room through the backdoor. _I don't even have anything of his. You evil stalker. Once I catch you, I won't forgive you._

As he sprints away from the shop, he realizes that he doesn't know how the stalker looks like or where he went. But he still runs, hoping to find a suspicious-looking person holding a pillow. He bumps into someone and fortunately, he doesn't fall down, but his cap does.

"It's Sehun!" he hears someone scream.

He looks around him bewilderedly, stunned at how everyone is starting to crowd him. Girls and women have their phones out and are taking photos excessively.

"Ex-excuse me, I need to find someone," he says and tries to politely shove the people away.

"Oppa, look here!"

"Sehunnie, call me noona!"

"Sehun-ah!"

A microphone is shoved in front of his face and someone asks, "Are you perhaps looking for Jiyoo?"

"Who's Jiyoo?" he asks impatiently and scowls. This isn't part of his plan. "Please excuse me. I have to go."

"No, oppa! Sign this first!"

"Sehun-ah, will you marry me?"

"Sehunnie, noona will take care of you."

He wants to curl into a ball and disappear. He knows that the life of an idol is dangerous, but he thinks that this is a bit too much. They're suffocating him, physically and mentally. Just as he's about to give up, he feels a calloused hand grab his and pull him out of the crowd.

The person pulls him away and forces him to run. He doesn't know how long they've been running, but he's just thankful that's he's finally escaped the crowd. They stop in a dirty alleyway and he breathes a sigh of relief. However, when he realizes that he has no idea where they are, he starts to panic. The person doesn't seem like a serial killer, but that doesn't mean Sehun is safe.

He starts to speak, but closes his mouth when the person removes his cap, shades, and mask. _Lu Han._

Lu Han grins at him and he tries not to faint. "We're quits now, right?"

_Handsome. He's too handsome._ He sends him a smile and hopes that it looks as beautiful as Lu Han's. “Yeah."

* * *

 

"So that's why you screamed?" Minseok says, looking relieved. "I thought there really was a robber."

"Why would he want the throw pillow?" Yixing says with a laugh. "You're really dense, hyung."

The twins and Minseok deadpan while Yixing continues laughing. Is Yixing really an adult? He's so clueless, Lu Han thinks, but looks at his best friend fondly.

"But why did Chanyeol say that?" Minseok asks.

Lu Han tries to answer, but Yixing beats him to it. "To save Lu Han hyung, of course," he says. The twins look at him, astonished that he said the right thing.

"Yixing's right!" Lu Hee chimes.

Minseok gapes as Lu Han pats his best friend's back proudly. "Yixing, you've grown up," he says, immediately forgetting his earlier thought that Yixing is far from being an adult.

Lu Han's phone suddenly blares and he picks it up without checking the caller ID. "Hello?"

_"Lu Han-ssi, it's me, Chanyeol. Lu Hee gave me your number before. I tried contacting your sister, but she won't answer. I need your help."_

"What's wrong?" he asks. He shrugs his shoulders when he sees the questioning look his sister and friends send him.

_"Sehun is missing. I can't find him."_

"Is he a baby or something?" He frowns.

_"No, but he has a really poor sense of direction. Please help me,”_ Chanyeol pleads, the desperation obvious in his voice.

He rolls his eyes, but answers, "Fine. We'll help you look for that big baby."

_"Thank you so much, Lu Han-ssi. I'm indebted to you."_

"Yeah, yeah. I'll call you when I find him." He ends the call and looks at the three, who are looking at him strangely. "What?"

Minseok grins. "Nothing. It just seems out of the ordinary for you to willingly help someone."

"I'm not cold-hearted," he deadpans. He starts explaining the problem and Minseok immediately divides the work.

"Alright. Lu Han and I will search for Lu Han. Yixing will take care of the shop and Lu Hee, you'll stay inside," he says.

"Why do I have to go and look for him?" Lu Han complains, simultaneous with Lu Hee's own complaint. "Why do I have to I have to stay in here?"

"No one can know that you are twins," Minseok explains. "People will immediately see-through your plan if they know. You can reveal the truth about your brother after your debut. But right now, no one else from us can know. Do you understand?"

They both nod. "But what about the customers?" the older twin asks. He's starting to doubt their plan. _What if the entertainment sends us to jail?_

"Don't worry about them. They've never seen you two together, right? Besides, Lu Han, you will be wearing women's clothing. Trust me. They won't know." Minseok crosses his arms smugly. "Moreover, you’re a caveman. You’ve probably never even used the internet before."

Lu Han glares at his boss, but he doesn't refute the statement. He's not a recluse, but he just doesn't see the appeal of those social-networking sites. “How do you know all this?”

“My dad’s company is under the Kim corporate group,” Minseok says with a grin. “SM Entertainment is also under that group. My uncle, although he retired recently, is the owner of the company.”

The twins’ jaws drop and the boss smiles at them sheepishly.

“Uh, I just want to remind you that Sehun’s still missing,” Yixing intervenes timidly when he realizes that they’ve forgotten. And they say he’s the forgetful one. “And there are customers waiting outside.”

Minseok’s eyes widen and he instructs them to go do their respective jobs. “Lu Han, I’ll look for him downtown!” he says. “Call me when you find him.” He leaves immediately.

Lu Han nods, but before he can go, Lu Hee tells him to wait. She hands him a cap, shades, and a mask. “You’re going to be an idol soon,” she says, grinning. “You have to be as discreet as possible.”

He grins and ruffles her head. “Thanks, dongsaeng.”

He leaves and runs wherever his feet take him. He doesn’t know where to find Sehun and he considers himself lucky when he sees a huge crowd gathering in a corner. He immediately knows that Sehun is there. With great difficulty, he pushes through the crowd and sees Sehun in the maknae, looking like a lost child.

He grabs the bewildered man’s hand and runs away as fast as he can. He was the fastest runner in his old team. He brings Sehun to an alleyway and he sees him panicking. He smirks and reveals himself.

Sehun gapes at him and he grins. “We’re quits now, right?”

He takes out his phone and calls Chanyeol then Minseok to tell them that he found the missing idol.

“Chanyeol hyung asked you to help?” Sehun asks with childlike wonder.

Lu Han almost squeals in delight when he sees Sehun’s expression. He decides that the Sehun in front of him is more attractive than the Sehun he saw in the bubble tea shop. His mind tells him that the vibe Sehun is giving off now is similar to the masked man’s, but he ignores it. “Yeah. He said you have a poor sense of direction.”

Sehun blushes and he looks down.

_He’s downright adorable when he lets his guard down,_ Lu Han thinks with a smile.

* * *

 

Sehun is in heaven. Lu Han looked for him. Lu Han saved him. They had a misunderstanding before, but Lu Han still helped him. He’s very happy. He wants to pinch himself to confirm if it’s not just a dream, but he doesn’t want Lu Han to think that he’s weird.

His phone rings suddenly and he cringes when he realizes it’s Jongdae. “He—“

_“Sehun, where are you?”_

“I’m fine. I’m—“

_“You weren’t kidnapped?”_

“No—“

_“It’s all over the news! ‘Oh Sehun, kidnapped by a man wearing a cap, shades, and a mask.’ What the hell happened?”_

“Oh, so I’m a kidnapper now?”

Sehun jumps when he sees Lu Han standing too close to him and listening to the conversation. The older man grabs the phone from him and starts talking to Jongdae.

“I didn’t kidnap him,” he says indignantly. “I actually saved him from his fans and those reporters. Chanyeol asked for my help.”

Sehun doesn’t hear what Jongdae says, but Lu Han continues speaking, telling the manager about their current location. “Yeah, please come soon. I still need to go somewhere important. No, no. I don’t need a reward. I did it for Chanyeol.”

Sehun’s face falls along with his heart. _Does he like Chanyeol hyung?_ He wants to wallow in self-pity, but Lu Han hands him the phone with a bright smile. He can’t bring himself to smile though, still troubled by his previous thought.

“Hello?” he says quietly.

_“Oh Sehun, you’re grounded.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! I'll be posting the 4th chapter right after.
> 
> Thank you!
> 
> themaskedgirl


	4. Not My Style

"Well? Is there anything you'd like to say?" Jongdae asks the two younger men sternly.

"Sorry," Chanyeol mumbles. He glances at Sehun, who is sitting beside him. They are in the car with Jongdae as the driver. He still hasn't gotten his driver license yet. "I'll take responsibility."

Jongdae brakes suddenly when the stoplight turns red. Chanyeol surges forward and hits the back of the driver's seat while Sehun remains on his spot, unfazed. "Chanyeol," Jongdae starts, "you don't have to do that. It's not your fault. It's Sehun's." He looks at the youngest through the rearview mirror and is astonished to see him smiling and daydreaming.

Sehun replays the events inside his mind and sighs dreamily. He gently leans on the car window as if he's filming a music video. He didn't get to catch the robber, but he got saved by his knight-in-shining-armor. _The prince and his knight,_ he thinks. He imagines the two of them wearing a prince's and knight's costume and giggles loudly.

He halts his daydreaming when he feels two pairs of eyes trailed on him. He turns away from the window and looks at the two managers. "What?"

"Did you hit your head or something?" Jongdae asks. The stoplight turns green and he starts speeding again. "You've been smiling like an idiot since I fetched you."

"I'm just happy," he mumbles.

Chanyeol gasps and remarks in awe, "You're in love!"

Sehun doesn't hear him—he's already wandering in Dreamland. Jongdae bursts out laughing, finding Chanyeol's statement absurd. "That kid probably doesn't even know what love is," he says, tears gathering in his eyes from laughing.

Chanyeol keeps it to himself, but he is certain that the maknae of EXO is in love.

They arrive back to the dorm in half an hour. The moment Sehun opens the door, he is bombarded with questions and screams from the leader and the visual.

"Oh Sehun, what happened?"

"Are you really dating that girl from Blue Gale?"

"What were you thinking, Sehun?"

"Wait, you're _not_ gay?"

"This could ruin your career!"

"This is impossible! Kris hyung is gay. _I'm_ gay. You can't not be gay."

"Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused? You know I can't clean up after you all the time."

"Oh, my God. I can't believe this. Now I can't undress in front of you!"

Sehun blinks and then drifts to his room dreamily, not really processing what the older members said. The managers and the two other members stare at his retreating back in confusion.

"Did something good happen to him?"

"Is he really straight?”

* * *

 

Sehun sighs as he plops down on his bed. He is still smiling like an idiot and he doesn't know how to stop himself. His crush on the overconfident waiter is growing bigger with each passing day and he doesn't know what to do about it. He takes out his phone, unlocks it, and stares at his home screen.

It's a candid photo of Lu Han that he took a few months ago. He laughs at himself, thinking that he's no different from his fans who follow him wherever he goes. He goes online to check updates and sees his name come up number one on Naver. There are different articles about him, some of them relating to the event that happened earlier that day. He sighs and starts browsing them.

**Exo's Sehun, kidnapped?**

**During an impromptu fan event in the Yangcheon District at two in the afternoon, Exo's maknae, Sehun, was kidnapped by a man wearing a black cap and face mask. Fans identified the kidnapper as a sasaeng, who frequently stalked the Exo member. Currently, there are no reports about the whereabouts of Sehun and his kidnapper.**

**His company has not yet issued a statement regarding the matter.**

He scoffs. "Kidnapped? Where did these reporters get this idea from?" He remembers Lu Han's get-up, but says, "Lu Han hyung looked like a knight, not a kidnapper." He closes the article and clicks on the next and more absurd one.

**Exo's Sehun reportedly went on a date with Blue Gale's Jiyoo**

**At around two in the afternoon, Exo's bassist, Sehun, was seen around the Yangcheon District. Citizens reported that Sehun ran out of an alleyway, looking disturbed and scared. He looked like he was looking for someone, but his fans crowded around him.**

He nods. At least there is some truth to this article.

**According to the citizens, he and Blue Gale's leader and visual, Jiyoo, had a fight during their date. Sehun tried to run after his rumored girlfriend, but the fans left him helpless. He apparently fainted during the scene until he was found by the manager, who was dressed in all black.**

His eyes widen as he continues reading the article. He can't believe what he's reading. He _fainted_? He growls. He hates how the media keeps twisting the truth. The juicier the issue is, the better it is for them and the worse it is for idols like him. He closes Naver and instead, opens his Instagram. He’s going to take matters into his own hands.

He posts the selca he took in BaoMin and adds a caption to dispel all the commotion surrounding him. He writes:

_Hello, my dear Exo-L. Today, rumors about me have started to circulate. It’s not true that I met up with someone today, but it’s true that I was in the Yangcheon District. I only went there to go to my favorite bubble tea shop, BaoMin! Please stop spreading these false rumors. I am most definitely single because I only have you, Exo-L, in my heart. Saranghaeyo~_

In a matter of minutes, tons of comments bombard the photo. Some of them don’t believe that it was him who posted the photo and the caption, while the others believe otherwise. He sighs and decides to post another photo of himself, but this time, while pouting. He adds the caption:

_I’m sad. Why won’t you guys believe that I’m the one who posted the previous photo? :(_

He refreshes the page and starts reading the comments.

**@eXoL_eXoSehun:** _Aaah, I can’t believe it! It seems that our dearest maknae’s cold heart finally melted!! His words make me feel warm._

He snorts. He’s not that cold, right? He doesn’t usually smile, but that’s only because he doesn’t see the need to. Besides, he only wants to give his fans a genuine smile. He doesn’t want to force himself.

**@kris.kai.sehun.love:** _This makes me so nervous. Why do I feel like Sehun oppa’s in love?_

A small blush covers his cheeks when he thinks of Lu Han as he reads the comment. Is he really in love? He closes his phone and discards it somewhere on his bed. Love, huh?

* * *

 

“Oh, my God!”

Lu Han raises his head as he hears his sister’s scream and waits for her to exit her room. “Three... two... one.”

The door opens and Lu Hee leaves her room, holding her phone up triumphantly. “We’re going to get more customers!” she proclaims. She seats herself on the couch beside him and holds out her phone to him.

“What’s that?” Lu Han asks disinterestedly.

“Instagram!” she says excitedly. “Sehun posted about our shop! I have a feeling there will be an increase in customers.”

Lu Han perks up when he hears Sehun’s name, but he convinces himself that he’s excited because their shop is getting more popular. “That’s great! Minseok will be pleased.” He suddenly remembers that Minseok, Chanyeol, and Yixing forbade him and Lu Hee from working in the shop. He looks at his twin, eyes wide. “Minseok and Yixing are the only workers here.”

As if on cue, Yixing comes rushing inside the living room, anxious and exhausted. “Hyung, noona, there are too many customers. Some of them have cameras. Don’t leave the room without a disguise.”

“But don’t you need some help?” Lu Han asks, worried. “I can wear a mask—“

Yixing shakes his head. “It’s too dangerous. Just stay in here and we’ll handle it.” He gives them a refreshing smile and leaves the room to assist Minseok.

Lu Han sighs in frustration. “I’m really lazy, but I want to help.” He feels bad that he can’t do anything to help his friends. He feels useless. He looks at Lu Hee, who is holding her phone to her ear.

She places her finger in front of her lips in a shushing motion and starts speaking. “Hello? Manager-nim? Uh, well, you see, we need your help. Yeah, well, there are too many customers right now because Sehun-ssi posted a selca of himself that he took in the shop. And Lu Han oppa and I can’t work, so we really need your help. Are you available?"

Lu Han crosses his fingers—it’s not that he believes in those kinds of things, but he’s not going to lose anything if he does the action—and hopes that Chanyeol can help around the shop. He holds his breath and when Lu Hee beams, he breathes a sigh of relief.

“Really? You’re going to bring a friend with you? That’s great! Thank you, manager-nim! Bye!” She ends the phone call and cheers with her twin.

“Problem solved!” she says cheerfully.

“We only have one problem left,” Lu Han deadpans. He lies down on the couch and uses his twin as a human pillow. “We need to cure my boredom.”

* * *

 

“Hyung, sorry for making you do this,” Chanyeol apologizes to Jongdae as they drive towards BaoMin.

Jongdae waves his hand, dismissing his apology. “Don’t worry. I’ve always wanted to know why Sehun finds that shop interesting.”

“Oh! The people there are really nice and interesting,” he assures the older. “They’re very accommodating and they have the best bubble tea I’ve ever tasted.”

Jongdae grins. “Then that’s great. I think I’ll have fun.”

“But are you sure it’s alright to leave those three alone?” Chanyeol asks worriedly. Kris, Jongin, and Sehun may seem tame, but they can get really wild. “You didn’t leave any alcohol in the fridge, right?”

The driver laughs obnoxiously. “Don’t be so nervous. We’ll just be gone for a few hours. Besides, I called up Kyungsoo and asked him to take care of the kids. They’re terrified of that man.”

Chanyeol laughs, agreeing with Jongdae. Kyungsoo poses as an English tutor, but he’s a more-than-capable bodyguard. He received training in the mountains and he is as efficient as an assassin.

They arrive at the shop and Chanyeol’s jaw drops when he sees the queue extend to the sidewalk. “Woah.”

“They’re probably expecting Sehun to suddenly show up,” Jongdae says as he parks the car and switches the ignition off. “Let’s go.”

They enter the shop and are immediately greeted by a harried Yixing. “Thanks for coming, Chanyeol-ssi and friend.” He bows while balancing the trays on his hands. “Please go to Minseok hyung. He’s manning the counter.” Yixing hurries away to serve the drinks.

They walk to the counter, overhearing the customers’ conversations about Sehun.

“I don’t think he’s dating Jiyoo.”

“They are so _totally_ dating.”

“No way! He’d never betray us.”

“But I ship them!”

“Please. He’s totally in love with Kai!”

“Well, I can’t deny that.”

Jongdae clamps his mouth with a hand, trying to stop himself from laughing. Chanyeol, on the other hand, cannot control himself and is already laughing and even clapping his hands like a seal. They are out of breath—from laughing and passing through the overly excited fans—when they reach the counter and find a very stressed boss.

Jongdae takes one look at him and screeches, “Minseok hyung?”

Minseok looks at him, surprised. “Jongdae? What are you doing here?”

Jongdae starts to answer, but Minseok gets distracted and listens to the order of the customer. The younger of the two decides to answer the question later and help him.

“Alright,” he says and goes behind the counter. “I’ll handle the counter and you make the drinks. Chanyeol will help the other guy serve the drinks. Is that okay?”

Minseok smiles at him and he realizes how much he missed that smile. “That’s good enough for me.” He walks past him and squeezes his shoulder lightly. “Thanks, Jongdae.”

* * *

 

“Hyung? What are you doing here?” Jongin asks, trying to hide the excitement in his voice.

Kyungsoo smiles at him softly and answers, “Jongdae hyung asked me to babysit you guys for a while.”

Jongin grins widely and takes the older boy’s hand. “Do you want to go to the dance room? I choreographed a new dance and I want you to see it.”

Kyungsoo lets himself be pulled. “Aren’t you the drummer though? Shouldn’t you be focusing on playing the drums?”

He pouts. “I wanted to dance. Sehun wanted to dance too. But the company wouldn’t let us. I still want to dance though, so I’m practicing. We also have a new president, so maybe he’ll allow us to dance.”

Dancing is his passion. He entered SM Entertainment to dance, but they put him in a band. He’s not complaining. He loves EXO, but sometimes, he wonders how much better he’ll probably feel if he got to do what he wants to do.

“Then I’ll support you,” Kyungsoo tells him earnestly.

He feels his heart throb and he blushes. “Thank you, hyung.” He leads him to the dance room, his hand wrapped around the elder’s.

He doesn’t realize it, but Kyungsoo is holding his hand too.

* * *

 

“Are you serious?” Lu Han hisses as Lu Hee pulls him to the nearest department store. Their faces are covered with facemasks and shades.

“If you’re going to be me, you’re going to have to be in style,” his twin announces, bringing him to the women’s section. “I can’t have you wearing rags while you’re me.”

“Do you have money?” he asks. He’s definitely not buying women’s clothing for himself using his own money.

“The company gave me money to go shopping,” she answers while browsing the clothes. “I was saving it to buy you a car, but you really need clothes. You can’t wear your clothes now, unless you want to be found out the moment you meet them.” She hands him some tops and ushers him to the dressing room.

He closes the door and drops the clothes on the floor. He knows he’s supposed to hang them, but he’s annoyed. He likes men, but he identifies as a male. He tears off the face mask and removes the shades, discarding them on the floor.

“Oppa, can you open the door?”

He reluctantly opens it and bras are shoved to his face. “What the heck—“

“You have to wear a bra,” Lu Hee tells him and then hands him some foam. “You actually can’t try underwear on, but I’m buying them anyway. Put these so you won’t seem too flat-chested.”

“Lu Hee!”

“Don’t worry,” she says and grins. “Nobody’s here. The saleslady is too busy surfing the net to even care who’s in here. Bad customer service, if you ask me. Now go and try those tops on. I’ll look for some dresses and skirts.” She winks at him and forcibly pulls the door close.

He locks the door and proceeds to remove his shirt. He looks at his reflection before grabbing the bra. He wears it—he knows how because he grew up with Lu Hee—and stuffs the foam inside the cup. He looks at the mirror again and shudders. He hurriedly grabs a pink, woolly sweater and wears it.

When he looks at his reflection, he doesn’t see himself. He sees Lu Hee with short hair.

He hears someone knock on the door and when he opens it, he sees the saleslady holding more clothing. “Miss, your twin asked me to give these to you. We actually have a limit, but I’ll let it slide.” She smiles at him. “That sweater looks good on you.”

He smiles his award-winning smile at her and watches her swoon. “Thanks.”

The saleslady blushes and he hears her whisper, “Why is she so handsome?”

He bows his head and closes the door to look at the new clothes. He throws them to the pile of clothes already on the floor. He sighs. He sorts them out: tops, dresses, and skirts. No pants. He grabs a skirt that he believes will go well with the sweater and changes. The moment he zips up the fly of the skirt, he hears a series of knocks.

“Are you done yet?”

He exits the dressing room and sees his twin holding more clothes. His twin gasps and squeals and his face burns in embarrassment. “This is so awkward, Hee.”

She shakes her head. “Oh, my God.”

“Commandment three, Lu Hee!”

“You look exactly like me,” she squeals. “This is so cool! I should get my hair cut like that. People will totally have a hard time figuring out who is who.”

He sighs for the nth time that day. _Well,_ he thinks, i _t’s only just for two months. How hard can this be?_

* * *

 

Before he knows it, he’s standing in the airport with Yixing, Jongdae, and Chanyeol, waving goodbye at his twin. He’s still wearing a mask. It’s too much of a risk if he doesn’t. He doesn’t regret agreeing because seeing the happiness in his twin’s eyes as she waves goodbye is enough to make him know that he made the right choice.

He watches his sister go inside the boarding area, luggage in hand. He feels a pang in his chest. It’s the first time he’ll be away from Lu Hee for a long time. They’ve never been apart for a week. He doesn’t know how he’ll be able to stand it.

He feels an arm wrap around his shoulders and he leans in to the touch. “I’m going to miss her,” he whispers sadly, an upturned smile on his face.

“Don’t worry, hyung,” Yixing assures him and pats his back. “She’ll be back before you know it. And then things will be back to normal.”

“I hope you’re right, Yixing. I hope you’re right.”

Everything after that day is a blur. And then, he’s suddenly inside a car, driven by a small, eyeliner-wearing man, who speaks too much. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you, you crazy bastard,” he screams, his tone accented. “If he gets found out, I swear, I have nothing to do with this.”

Chanyeol winces. “Hyung, you don’t have to scream.”

“Don’t tell me what to do, Park Chanyeol,” he says murderously. He turns to the tall man to glare at him.

“Hyung! Look at the road!”

Lu Han sighs and leans on the window. He closes his eyes and tunes out the two arguing men.

He’s starting to doubt if he can last two months.

He doesn’t know when they got to the apartment complex, but he’s suddenly ushered out of the car and into one of the apartments. He’s seated on a couch and the small man stands in front of him. Despite the other’s height, he still looks intimidating.

The scary aura disappears when he smiles at him and claps his hands. “Well, I must say, you’re a very pretty boy.” He puts his hand on his waist and continues, “Not as pretty as me, but pretty enough.” He offers his free hand. “My name is Byun Baekhyun, EXO’s stylist.”

He shakes Baekhyun’s hand and introduces himself. “I’m Lu Han.”

The stylist nods. “So, Lu Hee—“

“My name is Lu Han.”

“No, but they have to—“

“If I’m going to do this, I want to be called by my name, not my sister’s name,” he says defiantly. He looks at them with determined eyes. The agreement is that he’s going to pretend to be Lu Hee, but it doesn’t mean he’s supposed to be called Lu Hee too.

“But people will—“

“Lu. Han.”

Baekhyun sighs and takes Lu Han’s chin. He forcefully makes him face him. “Look here, dearie, if we’re going to pull this off, you have to cooperate with us.”

Lu Han shakes his head. “I just want to be called Lu Han. Is that too much to ask?”

“Yes,” Chanyeol and Baekhyun answer. Chanyeol closes the door and sits on the single couch.

He crosses his arms and pouts. “Then I’m not doing this. My sister,” he looks at Chanyeol, “and your job be damned.”

Chanyeol raises his hands in the air in surrender and wails. “The president knows you as Lu Hee—“

“Then I’ll go talk to him and tell him that I changed my name to Lu Han.”

“But—“

Baekhyun gasps suddenly. He slaps Chanyeol’s head and grabs Lu Han’s shoulders. “I have a marvelous idea! We’ll give you a stage name! You will be known as”—he poses seductively, one hand on his waist and a finger on his lower lip—“Lulu.”

Lu Han cringes. “Lulu? But that’s—“

“It’s either Lu Hee or Lulu! Take your pick!” Baekhyun screams and sends a murderous glare towards the petite deer.

“Lulu!” he finally concedes. “Only because I don’t like being called Lu Hee.”

Baekhyun calms down and sits beside him. He drapes an arm around his shoulders and asks, “Why not?” Chanyeol’s eyebrow twitches as he eyes the two.

“I’ve been compared to Lu Hee a lot,” he confesses. He twiddles his thumbs nervously. “Everyone called me Lu Hee the second or just Lu Hee. I’m older, but she’s always been more active and enthusiastic. She’s always been better at everything.”

He looks at Baekhyun with his wide eyes. “Don’t get me wrong. I love my sister a lot.” He looks down again. “It’s just that, when I do something as big as this, I want to be recognized as Lu Han instead of as Lu Hee. Even if, technically, I am Lu Hee.” He smiles sheepishly. “A pretty stupid reason, eh?”

Baekhyun sniffs and wipes the tears pooling in his eyes. “Not at all, dear. I understand your sentiments. Don’t worry. You will be called Lulu or simply Lu. That way, you won’t be called Lu Hee.” He hugs him and Lu Han hugs him back.

“Thanks, Baekhyun.”

Chanyeol clears his throat and Baekhyun pulls away. “Now, we have to do something with that hair of yours. It looks good on a guy, but you’re going to be a girl now. We’re going to have to make some changes.”

Lu Han’s hand is grabbed by Baekhyun and the latter pushes him down on a salon chair. “Makeover!” the stylist says giddily.

About thirty minutes later, he finds himself looking at a blond androgyne. “Wow.”

Baekhyun cackles and spins the chair Lu Han is sitting on. “That’s the magic of the Baekhyun.”

“I don’t look like Lu Hee,” he says slowly. “But I don’t look like myself either.”

“Of course,” the stylist says softly, “You’re Lulu.” He tugs on his hand and pulls him to a different room. “Did you bring a dress?”

He nods, patting his bag. “My twin told me to wear this dress. She was supposed to wear this during the contract signing.”

“I’m still amazed at how alike you two are,” Baekhyun says. “You even have the same body.” He locks the door to his bedroom and takes the bag from him. “Now, let’s dress you up, doll.”

* * *

 

He pulls down his dress, trying to cover his knees. “Isn’t this too short?” he asks Baekhyun, who is busy fixing the barrettes on his hair.

“No, it’s perfect,” Baekhyun answers without looking at his dress. “You’ll make them fall for you and all you have to do is bat an eyelash.” He takes a few steps back and admires his work. He lets out a sigh. “Perfect. Well, almost.” He takes a wet tissue from his bag and wipes away Lu Han’s red lipstick. He dabs on some lip-gloss and smiles. “Now, you’re perfect! Let’s go!”

Baekhyun pulls Lu Han with him and Chanyeol follows them, mumbling about make-up and how he doesn’t understand them. They reach the room where they are supposed to meet the president and the members of EXO.

“Remember, Lu Han, just smile and they will fall for you,” Baekhyun reminds him. “Just be yourself.”

Lu Han nods obediently.

“But!” Baekhyun says sternly. “Do not, I repeat, do not go near Jongin or else I will skin your flat ass.”

Lu Han nods vehemently. The threat is already enough to make him cry and pee on the spot. Fortunately, he has good control of his bladder. Chanyeol opens the door to the meeting room and Lu Han is met with a blinding white light. The light is so bright and he feels like he’s in paradise.

The light is coming from the three men sitting fabulously on the couch. The one in the middle has a face that says, “Bitch, I’m better than you,” and a sharp chin that pierces his heart. The one on his right has intimate eyes that sees through his soul, giving him sheer bliss. Lu Han turns to the person on the left and his face immediately falls, but for some reason, his face heats up. Oh Sehun.

He quickly recovers, however, and sends them his billion-dollar smile, immediately charming the president. The dark-skinned boy, Jongin, just smiles at him, as if saying, “That’s cute, but I’ve seen better smiles.” Lu Han doesn’t know what Sehun’s reaction is, pointedly ignoring him.

The leader, however, is a different topic. He stares at Lu Han, sending chills down his spine and freezing him on the spot. One side of his lips starts to rise and Lu Han’s heart starts to race. When the leader opens his mouth, Lu Han’s eyes roll to the back of his head and he faints. He doesn’t hear what the leader says.

“Not my style."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!


	5. Clarifications and Misunderstandings

_"So what are we going to do next?" Lu Han asks, exhaustion echoing in his voice. He is, fortunately, back in his own clothes. He knows how tiring it is to go shopping with Lu Hee, but he's never realized how tiring it is to shop with her while posing as a girl._

_"Oppa," Lu Hee says as she leads him to some place in the mall, "you wanted to cure your boredom, remember? Stop acting like you're tired."_

_He bites his lips to contain his sob. He is tired, but he decides that it's better to shut his mouth than to feel the wrath of his twin. "Sorry," he mumbles tiredly. He's not going to pretend he isn't exhausted though._

_"Apology accepted," she chimes. She walks briskly and stops in front of a serene-looking store. "We're here!" she proclaims._

_He raises his head to look at the sign and wishes he didn't. He feels a chill run down his spine and for the first time since he left the convent, he cries, "Mother Superior, help me."_

**_Pierre_ **

**_Waxing Salon_ **

He wakes up with a start and sits up. His hand goes straight to feel his legs and realizes that they're hairless. He raises his hand to his thighs and feels the soft texture of his dress. He looks down in horror and opens his mouth to scream.

"Lulu?"

He halts his oncoming scream and looks up to see Chanyeol. "Chanyeol-ssi," he whispers, horrified. "My—" he stops when he sees other people behind Chanyeol. He recognizes the tiny man who dolled him up, but not the man with sparkling skin and a brilliant smile. "What's happening?" he whispers and looks at Chanyeol for an answer.

"You fainted when you saw us," someone says helpfully and plops down on the couch where Lu Han is.

He turns to look at the person and cringes when he sees Sehun. The evil Adonis, he thinks. "What are you doing here?" he asks and points his finger at him accusingly.

Sehun raises his brow and stares at him. "Have we met before?"

He scoffs. "Are you serious? Wemph mph mpph—"

Chanyeol laughs nervously, his hand firmly covering Lu Han's mouth. "No, you two haven't met before."

Lu Han forcefully removes the manager's hand and takes a mouthful of breath. "What are you doing?"

Baekhyun laughs loudly and everyone shifts his attention to him. "Oh, my. Lulu's still recovering from the flu and she's still sort of delusional." He claps his hands and grins. He takes Lu Han's hand and pulls him up. "I'll borrow Lulu here for a while," he says and pulls him out.

He slams the door and glares at the clueless blond. "Are you out of your mind?" he hisses.

"What—" He stops when it finally dawns on him that he's posing as Lu Hee. He stares at Baekhyun guiltily. "Sorry," he mumbles.

"Now, go inside and apologize. We're going to talk later." The tiny man glares at him and he nods.

He opens the door and walks in timidly. He bows deeply at the people inside the room and smiles sheepishly. "Hello. My name is Lulu. I'm sorry for fainting earlier."

The members of EXO nod offhandedly. Lu Han notices that Kris is on his phone and smiling a tiny bit. He realizes that Jongin is nodding because he’s fallen asleep and not because he understood what he said. On the other hand, the maknae is staring at him intensely. He can’t bring himself to look back, afraid that he’ll melt if he meets Sehun’s eyes.

There’s something about Sehun that makes his heart beat fast and his palms sweat. He wants to figure out what it is, so that he can go back to being himself.

The man with the brilliant smile disturbs his train of thought when he grins and walks to him. He offers his hand and says, "I'm Kim Joonmyeon, the new president of this company. _It's very nice to meet you._ "

Lu Han forces out a laugh and shakes his hand. "Hello."

Joonmyeon looks at him dreamily and sighs. “I think this is _love_! It’s _love_ , I’m telling you!”

Baekhyun shoves the president away and rolls his eyes. “You’re overreacting again, pres. And stop it with the weird English phrases.” He looks at the fidgeting Lu Han and smiles encouragingly, but the glint in his eyes is a different matter, subtly telling the crossdresser to act normally or else he will kill him.

He turns to the president and the nervous manager. “Pres, Chanyeol, I’d like to talk to you regarding EXO’s new concept,” Baekhyun says and pulls the two of them outside the room.

Lu Han doesn’t even have time to react and he is just left standing in the middle of the room awkwardly. He takes a deep breath. _I’m doing this for Lu Hee_ , he reminds himself. He clears his throat and says, “Please take care of me.” He smiles his billion-dollar smile that everyone falls for.

Kris looks at him emotionlessly. He feels his heart drop a little, confused as to why the tall leader of the group isn’t paying him any attention.

“Your smile looks fake.”

He whips his head to look at Sehun, who is frowning at him. “Excuse me?” he splutters.

“I said, it looks fake,” the maknae says. He stands and walks to him. He doesn’t exactly tower over Lu Han, but he looks like a giant compared to the latter’s frame. “It’s pretty, yeah, but there’s no emotion.” He leans in and scrutinizes the smaller man’s pale face.

Lu Han deftly pushes him away, wanting to get as much distance away from him as possible. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he says, a bit breathlessly. He mentally chides himself for letting Sehun unnerve him.

“Alright, that’s enough,” Kris says, standing up from the couch and walking to them, and pulls Sehun away. He forces the gigantic maknae to sit down. He looks at Lu Han apologetically and says, “I’m sorry. Sehun likes annoying people.”

Sehun starts protesting, but Kris silences him with a glare. The leader clears his throat and looks at Lu Han coldly. “As you know, EXO has a very large fanbase. We currently have 3, 012, 195 fans all over the world, but that’s not including those who still haven’t signed up.”

Lu Han scoffs. “You have _that_ many fans? You’re kidding me. That’s like the population of Busan in 2005.”

The leader stares at him blankly and he realizes that he said something he shouldn’t have. He likes spouting random facts and Lu Hee always calls him weird whenever he does that. _And now I even did it when I’m pretending to be her. She’s going to flip if she finds out._ He closes his eyes and grimaces. He made too much mistakes already and it’s just the first day. _How am I going to survive for two months?_

He opens his eyes and sees Kris staring at him curiously. “Is—is there anything on my face?” he says softly. He feels his heart thumping loudly in his chest.

The taller man just shakes his head, as if he’s trying to pinpoint something, but can’t figure out what it is. “Nothing,” he says slowly, “I just think you’re interesting.”

Lu Han almost raises his hand to his chest to calm its erratic beating, but stops when he sees Sehun looking at him with narrowed eyes. He starts sweating nervously, afraid that Sehun knows who he is. He even forgets that Kris is standing near him and staring at him.

Sehun catches his gaze and then smirks. His heart’s beating increases speed and he believes that it’s from anger. He wants to say something, but Kris finally resumes his speech.

He clears his throat—for the second time, Lu Han notices—and continues, “Anyway, as I was saying, we have a large fanbase. If you’re just joining because we’re already famous and you want to ride on our coattails—“

He gasps and shakes his head angrily. “I didn’t even know you were _that_ famous.” He glares at Kris, momentarily forgetting that he’s glaring at the person he was fantasizing about just moments ago, and rants, “I mean, I know you’re famous. Our customers are always talking about your group like they don’t have anything else to talk about.”

“Customers?” Sehun pipes up. He looks at him curiously, ignoring the way Jongin is dozing off on his shoulder.

“Yes,” Lu Han says nonchalantly, “We own a bubble tea—“ He shuts up when he realizes that he’s revealing too much information. He looks at Sehun, who is looking at him expectantly, with wider-than-usual eyes. “I-I mean—we—I—“

Sehun looks at him and smiles gently—he’s never seen that smile before—and says, “I like bubble tea.” He pushes Jongin away from his shoulder and the latter wakes up with a start.

“What? Have sasaengs invaded the building?” he says and looks around wildly.

Kris rolls his eyes and Sehun laughs. The other two members of EXO look at the maknae in shock. A laughing Sehun is not a daily occurrence. It only happens occasionally, when he’s taken off-guard. He doesn’t laugh in front of people he doesn’t know either.

The maknae stands and stretches. Jongin collapses on the couch and closes his eyes. “I think I’m still dreaming. I’m not sure if this is a dream or a nightmare,” he murmurs deliriously. But he suddenly opens his eyes and sits up, proclaiming, “My Kyungsoo sense is tingling!”

The leader sighs again as Sehun walks to him and taps his shoulder. “I’m going to go out and buy bubble tea.” He grins at him and turns to Lu Han. He gives him a bright grin and waves. “I’ll see you later, Lulu.”

He whistles as he walks to the door while the others stare at him in disbelief. He opens the door to reveal a startled Kyungsoo, who is about to open the door himself. “Hi, hyung,” he says and walks away.

Kyungsoo follows him with his wide eyes, mouth agape, and turns to the ones in the room. “Is he high?” he asks innocently.

Jongin squeals and says in a shrill voice, “My Kyungsoo sense is never wrong!” and jumps up from the couch to tackle Kyungsoo with a hug.

* * *

Lu Han doesn’t remember how he ended up in the company’s cafeteria with Kris. But it doesn’t matter because he’s currently sitting in front of his crush, breathing heavily and sweating bullets. “What did you want to talk about?” he says softly.

Kris raises his mug to take a huge gulp of his drink. “I just wanted to continue our earlier conversation,” he says. He puts down his mug and looks at him straight in the eye. “If you’re talentless and you’re only joining to get famous, then you might as well quit now.”

What Kris said triggers Lu Han’s brotherly instincts. Right now, the leader thinks he’s talking to his sister and Lu Han’s not going to allow him to push him—pretending to be Lu Hee—around just like that. He gets ahead of himself and loses his temper. He slams his hands on the table, surprising Kris.

“Lu Hee has always dreamed of becoming an idol. She learned different instruments to prepare herself. She’s not doing this for the fame and fortune. She wants to make music,” he says angrily. “Sure, she also thinks she’s going to find her mother if she does this, but that’s not the only reason.”

He glares at him and hisses, “But you know, Lu Hee doesn’t need to bear being with disgusting people like you. She can make it out on her own without your help.” He stands up and turns on his heel, intending to walk straight and not look back.

But Kris stops him, holding on to his hand tightly. “Lulu,” he says softly.

Lu Han cringes at the name, but composes himself and faces the leader.

“I’m sorry,” he says sincerely. “I thought you were just like the others.”

He melts at his words and decides to forgive him. “It’s okay,” he says, “You were just being cautious.”

Kris smiles at him and he inwardly swoons. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome!” he says brightly and smiles his billion-dollar smile. He remembers Sehun’s remarks about his smile being fake, but ignores them for the meantime. _It’s not like I can actually show everyone my true smile,_ he thinks. His smile getting more restrained the more he thinks about it.

The leader looks at him curiously and asks, “Are you okay?”

He stops smiling and giggles to distract. He nods earnestly, hoping that he’ll get off his case.

“I have a question though,” Kris says.

He nods to encourage him.

“Why were you speaking in third person?”

* * *

Sehun, decked in full ninja gear, runs around the building, looking for his manager. He spots him in the lounge, serenely sipping his coffee. He runs to him and screams, “Hyung!”

Jongdae gasps in surprise and accidentally spills the coffee. Fortunately, the liquid is spilled on the floor and not himself. He stares at the young EXO member, not amused.

He smiles sheepishly and says, “Hyung, I need to go to BaoZi.” He’s half-expecting Jongdae to disagree, but the manager just nods.

Jongdae takes tissues to wipe the coffee on the floor. “Are you craving for bubble tea again?” he asks.

Sehun watches the reliable manager clean up the mess he made and answers, “Nope. I just want to visit the workers there.”

The manager looks up at him and grins. “Me too.”

A few moments later, they’re both strapped in their seats and riding towards the bubble tea shop. Before he knows it, they’re standing in front of the shop. He takes a deep breath and enters the strangely empty shop. He needs to confirm his suspicions. He needs to know if the newest member of EXO is really Lu Han. He also wants to find out why he’s pretending to be a girl, but he has a feeling that it has something to do with the girl who looks exactly like him.

There’s no one inside and the two workers—the boss and the refreshing kid—are sitting on the chairs looking bored. The refreshing boy stands up excitedly when he sees him enter and says, “Welcome!” The boy looks at the boss and tells him, “Hyung, we have a customer. Move it!”

The boss sighs exasperatedly and pulls him back down. “Yixing, they’re visitors.”

Yixing looks at them and his face falls. “Oh. It’s Sehun-ssi and his manager.” He still smiles at them and bows. “Hello.”

“Business is slow today, huh?” Jongdae says, strolling in and taking a seat beside the boss.

The boss snorts and hits his head jokingly. Sehun realizes that his manager and his Lu Han’s boss are probably childhood friends. He walks to them and takes a seat beside Yixing, who is doing something on his phone. “Where’s your other employee?” he asks.

Yixing looks at him in amazement. “Sehun-ssi,” he says, jaw dropping. 

“Sorry?”

The employee shakes his head and answers with a laugh, “You just look better up close.” He gives him one last smile and returns his attention to his phone.

Sehun can’t help but take a peek at what Yixing is doing and is overjoyed when he sees him messaging Lu Han. He quickly scans what he can see and his heart speeds up.

**Hyuuuuung~ How are you doing?**

**-Yixing**

**The president is weird!!!**

**-Lu Han**

**But he can’t be that bad, right?**

**-Yixing**

**Nope. The other members (except for the devil) are great, especially the leader! I’LL CALL YOU LATER <3**

**-Lu Han**

**Kris hyung is a great leader~**

**-Yixing**

Sehun frowns when he sees Lu Han’s message. He thinks Kris is great? He stares at the phone murderously. What if Lu Han ends up liking Kris instead of him? Yixing’s phone buzzes as he receives another message. As he is about to read it, the phone is put down and someone clears his throat.

He raises his head and comes face to face with an unamused Yixing. The boy, who is usually smiling, is frowning at him and even seems to be glaring at him. He offers him a sheepish smile and says, “I didn’t know you could make that expression?”

Yixing’s expression doesn’t change and he answers, “I’d appreciate it if you minded your own business, Sehun-ssi.” He sends one last spiteful glare at the younger boy and gets up and leaves the room.

By the time Sehun has recovered from the deadly glare, Yixing is already gone. He looks at Jongdae and Minseok to see if they noticed what happened, but they are still happily chatting without a care in the world.

“So why did you start a milk tea shop? I thought you liked coffee more.”

“I _do_ like coffee more. But I promised someone that we would open a coffee shop _together_.”

Sehun is too distracted—worried about angering Yixing and excited that he’ll be able to spend time with Lu Han _everyday_ —to notice the smiles Minseok and Jongdae are sending each other.

* * *

“What do you think about the new recruit?” Jongin asks as he sits beside Kyungsoo. They’re in the company’s entertainment room, watching Prince of Tennis, Kyungsoo’s favorite show.

Kyungsoo keeps his eyes trained on the screen and answers, “A friend of mine hired me to be Lulu-ssi’s bodyguard. I’ll be staying here for the time ”

Jongin sits up straight and looks at him with wide eyes. “What?”

The older boy ignores him and continues watching the show. He already knows all of the drummer’s quirks.

“Why did you agree?”

He mentally cheers when Ryoma smashes the ball and evens out the score with his enemy. He reaches to his left and grabs a handful of popcorn and eats it slowly.

“Do you like Lulu?” Jongin is becoming more and more nervous. He grips the edge of the couch tightly.

Kyungsoo hums, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. He’s too focused on the show to understand what Jongin is talking about. Unfortunately, the drummer of EXO takes it the wrong way. He thinks that Kyungsoo’s humming means he likes Lulu. He stands up and stares at his language tutor, waiting him for to say something—anything.

But Kyungsoo continues watching and Jongin’s heart falls as he realizes that maybe Kyungsoo doesn’t really like him. He realizes that maybe the older boy hates it when he clings to him. Maybe he only puts up with him because the company hired him and he can’t really do anything about it.

He curls his hands into fists as he stares at the person he loves with all of his heart. He backs away and leaves the room. He walks slowly, hoping that Kyungsoo will follow him and ask him to return. But he reaches the entrance of the building and Kyungsoo is still nowhere to be seen. With a heavy heart, he heads to the cafeteria where he’s supposed to meet up with Kris and Lulu.

Kyungsoo finally finishes the episode with a triumphant smile. He turns to his side to talk to Jongin, but is surprised to see him missing. He’s confused that the boy who almost never leaves his side left without a word. He deduces that Jongin just went to restroom and decides to wait for him.

But he doesn’t understand why his heart feels so heavy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys! Sorry, this was super late. I was super busy recently.
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> themaskedgirl

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you very much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> This is crossposted on AFF, which is where it was originally published.
> 
> themaskedgirl


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